1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to wave-motor apparatus for converting the kinetic energy contained in waves on a body of liquid to another form and includes using wave energy to drive a reciprocating pump.
2. Background Information
Many inventors have sought to harvest energy from the waves that are always present on a large body of water. Among the proposed devices are many using the wave energy to cause a first portion of the apparatus to move relative to a second portion of the apparatus in a reciprocating fashion. One group of these machines typically have a float portion which floats on the surface of the body of liquid so as to be moved responsive to the wave motion with respect to a hydrodynamically resistive portion of the apparatus that extends beneath a surface region of wave activity for at least most of the waves to be encountered so as to remain relatively stationary. Exemplar among the apparatus in the first group are those taught in the inventor's U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,838, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. A second group of wave energy harvesting apparatus employs laterally spaced-apart floats arranged so that the up and down movements of the floats in response to the wave motion are out of phase with each other and can be used to drive a pump. Notable among machines of this sort are three disclosed by the present applicant in his issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,302,161, 4,413,956, and 4,792,290, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference.